Combined cotton chopper and cultivator.



PATENTBD JULY so, 190% W. M. ARNOLD. COMBINED COTTON CHOPPER ANDGULTIVATOR.

APPLIOATION FILED DEC. 22, 1906.

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3] Wm Mom with eases No. 861,569. PATENTBD J ULY 3O 1907. I

W. M. ARNOLD.

COMBINED COTTON CHOPPER AND-OULTIVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED D120. 22, 1906.

3 SHBETS-SHEBT 8 5 m wtoz wane/Mm (a D [VII/0rd,. flzwa/d No. 861,569. IPATENTED JULY 30, 1907.

W. M. ARNOLD.

COMBINED COTTON CHOPPER AND CULTIVATOR. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 22, 1906.

3 SHEETS-*SHEET a.

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I r I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

COMBINED COTTON CHOPPER AND CULTIVATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 30, 1907.

Application filed December 22, 1906. Serial No. 349,097.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLARD M. ARNOLD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Dallas, in the county of Dallas and State of Texas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in a Combined CottonChopper and Cultivator; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in combined cottonchoppers and Cultivators and my object is to provide means for guidingthe chopping mechanism independently of the draft animals, whereby thechopping disk may be held into engagement with the row of plants orentirely removed to one side thereof.

A further object is to provide means for raising and lowering thechopping disk.

A still further object is to provide yielding means for the shaftcarrying the chopping disk whereby when said disk encounters a solidsubstance it may automatically raise and pass over the obstruction and astill further object is to provide means for shifting the chopping disklaterally whereby the chopping capacity of the disk will be increased ordecreased.

Other objects and advantages will be hereinafter referred to and moreparticularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings which are made a part of this application.Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved cotton chopper showing thenear wheels removed therefrom. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the chopper.Fig. 3 is a detail side elevation, partly in section, of the choppingdisk and supporting means therefor, and Fig. 4 is a detail sectionalView as seen from line 4-4 Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings in which similar reference numerals designatecorresponding parts throughout the several views 1 indicates the main.frame of my improved chopper which is mounted at its rear end upon anaxle 2 said axle having carrying wheels 3 at each end thereof. Thatportion of the frame 1 in the rear of the axle 2 is directed upwardly toform a platform 4 upon which is mounted the usual or any preferred formof seat 5. The forward end of the frame 1 is supported upon an auxiliarytruck said truck comprising an axle 6 extending rearwardly from which isa guide or fifth wheel 7 upon which the forward end of the frame rests.Extending forwardly from the axle 6 and at the central portion thereofare brackets 8 inwhich is pivotally mounted a link 9 said linksurrounding the axle and extending to a point adjacent the guide 7 toreceive the forward end of the frame 1, said frame being pivotallysecured to the link.

Secured to the frame 1 at a point adjacent to the rear axle arestandards 10 t0 the lower ends of which is pivotally secured the rearend of an auxiliary frame 1]., the forward end of said auxiliary framebeing adjustably secured to the main frame 1. through the medium of hellcrank levers 12 and 13 which are pivotally secured to the frame 1 andare connected to the forward end of the frame 11 by means of straps 14.

Secured to the upper end of the bellcrank lever 12 is a rod 15 which isin turn pivotally secured to an operating lever 16 said lever beingprovided with the usual form of controlling latch 17 which cooperateswith a rack bar 18 carried by the frame 1 so that by operating saidlever forwardly or rearwardly the auxiliary frame may be lowered orraised at will, and held in its adjusted position.

Mounted upon the axle 2 is a sprocket Wheel 19 around which is disposeda sprocket chain 20 the opposite end of said chain being directed aroundan auxiliary sprocket wheel 21 which is rigidly mounted upon a shaft 22said shaft being held upon the auxiliary frame 11 by means of bearings23. The inner end of the shaft 22 is provided with a bevel gear 24 whichis adapted to mesh with a similar'gear 25 carried by a stub shaft 26said shaft and bevel gear being disposed at an angle to the shaft 22 andgear 24 and is secured at its inner end by means of atoggle joint 27 toa driving shaft 28, the free end of said shaft being in turn rotatablymounted in a bearing 29 which is disposed between suitable guides 30carried by a supporting frame 31.

The bearing 29 is vertically movable within the guides 30 and isprovided at opposite sides with trunnions 32 which extend throughvertically disposed slots 33 in the guides 30 so that when the choppingdisk 34 carried by the driving shaft 28 encounters a solid substancethebearing 29 will move upwardly thereby allowing the disk to pass over thesolid substance without injuring the same and in order to normally holdthe bearing at the lower end of the guide 30 so that shaft 28 will restin a horizontal plane I provide a spring 35 which is disposed betweenthe bearing 29 and the up- I per end of the guides 30 and is disposedaround a bolt 36 which extends through an elongated slot 37 in the frame31 and has its lower end seated in asocket in the bearing 29 therebyholding the spring securely in place between the upper end of the guideand the bearing 29. The upper and lower ends of the guide 30 areprovided. with flanges 38 said flanges engaging the edges of thehorizontal sections of the supporting frame 31 thereby securely holdingthe guide upon the frame and providing a sliding bearing therefor.

In order .to readily adjust the path of the chopping disk 34 so that thecutting capacity thereof may be increased or decreased without effectingor changing the general course of the draft animals I have providedmeans for moving the guides 30 longitudinally of the frame 31 said meansconsisting of a controlling lever 39 which is pivotally secured to theframe '1 at a point in the rear of the rear axle 2, the upper end ofsaid lever being provided with a latch 40 which is adapted to cooperatewith a rack bar 41 to hold said lever in its adjusted position. Pivotal]y secured at one end to the lower end of the controlling lever 39 is abar 42 the opposite end of said bar being pivotally and yieldingl ysecured to one arm of a bell crank lever 43 which is in turn pivotallymounted upon. the frame 1. Secured to the opposite arm of the lever 43is a pitman 44 which extends through one wall of the frame 31. and ispivotally secured to the guide 30 so that when the controlling lever ismoved forwardly and rearwardly the guides will be shifted longitudinallyof the frame 31 and the capacity of the chopping disk decreasedorincreased. i

It has been found in practice that the draft animals frequently swervefrom side to side and thereby move the chopping disk out of the line ofthe row of plants and in order to retain the chopping disk in line withthe plants even when the draft animals direct the chopper to one side ofthe row, I have provided a guiding lever 45 which is pivotally securedto one end of an arm 46 which is in turn rigidly secured to thehorizontal portion of the link 9 so that by shifting the lever 45 to theright or left the forward end of the main frame and parts carriedthereby will likewise be directed to the right or left, which willresult in moving the chopping disk so as to retain the same in line withthe row of plants even when the guiding truck is considerably out ofline therewith. Lever 45 is pivoted to 46 by a horizontal pivot and isrigid with 46 so far as lateral movement is concerned.

Secured t0, and extending forwardly from the guiding lever 43 is alifting arm 47 the free end of which. is secured to a loop 48 said loopextending around the arm 46 and terminating 'in abolt 49 to the threadedend of which is secured a turn-buckle 50 the opposite end of saidturn-buckle receiving the threaded end of an eyebolt 51 which is in turnsecured in any preferred manner to the arched section 52 of theauxiliary frame 11 so that by raising or lowering the free end of theguiding lever 45 the forward end of the auxiliary frame may be readilylowered or raised, thereby providing means for quickly regulating thedepth of the chopping disk 34.

In order to allow the auxiliary frame 11 to move freely withoutoperating the lever 16 I have provided the straps 14 with slots 52 sothat the bolt 54 employed in securing the straps to the auxiliary frame11 may be readily moved upwardly or downwardly in said slotswhen theguiding lever 45 is operated to raise or lower the auxiliary frame 11. I

In order to relieve the rod 15 and operating lever 16 from the weight ofthe auxiliary frame 11 and at the same time assist the operator inraising the'auxiliary frame without employing an undue amount of labor Ihave provided rods 54, one for each side of the frame 1,

one end of which is secured to the bell crank levers l2 and 13 while theopposite ends thereof are pivotally secured to the upwardly extendingends of the standards 1.0 by means of eyebolts 55 each of said rodsbeing provided with spring sections 56 which are adapted to exert atension upon the levers 12 and 13 at all times so that when it isdesired to raise the auxiliary frame 11 the tension of said springs willlessen the weight upon the operating lever 16 to such an extent that theauxiliary frame may beraised by applying a slight pull upon theoperating lever.

The shaft 57 which extends through the lower ends of the standards 10and forms the bearing for the auxiliary frame 11 is also provided withrearwardly extending shanks 58 to the lower ends of which are securedcultivating plows .59 the shanks 58 being pivotally mounted upon theshaft 57 and secured together by means of spacing bars 60 the meetingends of said bars being adjustably secured together so that the plowsmay be set a suitable distance apart and retained in their adjustedposition. 4 r

The shanks 58 are yieldingly mounted upon the shaft 57 so that when theplows engage a solid substance, such as a rock or the like said plowsmay be moved upwardly and pass over the obstruction and the plows areheld into engagement with the soil by means of a coiled spring 61 whichis disposed around the shaft 57 and secured thereto by means of a clip62 the freeends of said spring terminating in angular extensions 63which are disposed above the shanks 58 and direct downward pressurethereon so that as soon as the plows ately direct the same intoengagement with the soil.

The forward axle 2 is provided at each end with wheels 64 and also haspivotally secured thereto and extending forwardly therefrom a tongue 65and said tongue is normally supported in a horizontal position by meansof tension springs 66 and a spring 67, the springs 66 being secured atone end to the guide 7 and extending over the axle 6 and into engagementwith the cross bar 68 of the tongue while the spring 67 is carried by abrace rod 69 one section of the rod being secured to a bracket 70 on thearm 46 and the opposite end to a convenient point upon the tongue 65thebrace rod being formed in sections and connected together by aturn-buckle 71 so that the tension upon the spring 67 may be increasedor decreased thereby raising or lowering the plane of the tongue.

In operation the chopping mechanism is hitched to the driving axle 2 bydisposing a clutch 72 into engagement with a clutch face 73 on thesprocket wheel 19 thereby imparting rotary motion to the chopping disk34 after which the operating lever 16 is moved forwardly and theauxiliaryframe 11 lowered thereby directing the chopping disk intoengagement with the growing plants and should it be found that thechopping disk was out of line with the row of plants the forward ends ofthe frames 1 and 11 may be quickly moved to the right or left byswinging the rear end of the guiding lever 45 to the right or leftthereby retaining the chopping disk in line with the plants until suchtime as the course of the draft animals may change sufficiently to causethe cutting disk to travel in the row. The shaft 28 carrying the cuttingdisk 34 is disposed diagonally in the auxiliary frame 11 so that thestroke of the disk will be quartering to the row of plants and thecutting capacity of the disk, which is preferably formed in 7 sectionsas shown, maybe readily increased or decreased by shifting the guides 30on the frame 31, said operation being accomplished through the medium ofthe lever 39, bar 42, bell crank lever 43 and pitman 44.

What I claim is 1. In a device of the class described the combination,with a main frame and means to support the rear end thereof, of an axleat the forward end of said frame, a guide on said axle upon which theforward end of said frame is adapted to rest, a link pivotally securedat one end to said frame and at its opposite end to said axle and meanssecured to said link whereby said link may be moved laterally to guidesaid frame.

2, In a device of the class described the combination, with a main frameand supporting means for the rear end thereof, of an auxiliary framepivotally secured to said main frame, an axle at the forward end of saidmain frame, a link pivotally secured at one end to axle and at itsopposite end to said main frame, an arm fixedly secured to said link, aguiding lever pivotally secured to said arm and means disposed betweensaid lever and auxiliary frame to raise said auxiliary frame when saidlever is depressed.

In a device of the class described the combination, with a main frameand supporting means therefor, of an auxiliary frame one end of which ispivotally secured to said main frame, a disk in said auxiliary frame, adriving shaft for said disk, a movable bearing for the outer end of saidshaft, guides for said bearing, a supporting frame for said guides, abolt disposed through an elongated slot in said supporting frame andhaving its lower end seated in said bearing, a spring disposed aroundsaid bolt and between the upper end of said guide and the bearingwhereby said shaft will be normally held in a horizontal position andmeans to move said guide laterally in said supporting frame whereby thecutting capacity of the disk will be increased or decreased.

4. In a device of the class described the combination, with a main frameand supporting means therefor, of an auxiliary frame pivotally securedat one end to said main frame and below the same, a disk carried by saidauxiliary frame, bell crank levers pivotally secured to said main frame,slotted links disposed between said bell crank levers and the auxiliaryframe, a rod secured to one of said bell crank levers. an operatinglever at the opposite end of said rod. spring actuated rods secured atone end to said levers and at their opposite end to said main framewhereby a portion of the weight of said auxiliary frame will be removedfrom the operating lever.

5. In a device of the class described the combination, with a main frameand supporting means therefor, of an auxiliary frame pivotally securedat one end to said main frame, bell crank levers pivotally secured tosaid main frame, depending straps on one arm of each of said bell cranklevers and having their opposite ends secured to the free end of saidauxiliary frame said straps having elongated slots therein, boltsadapted to extend through said slots and movably secure the auxiliaryframe to the straps, a rod secured to the opposite arm of one of saidbell crank levers, an operating lever for said rod adapted to raise andlower said auxiliary frame and means at the forward end of saidauxiliary frame to raise the same independently of the operating lever.

6. The combination with a main frame, of an auxiliary frame pivotallysecured thereto, means to raise and lower the forward end of saidauxiliary frame, a driving shaft having a chopping disk mounted thereon,a toggle joint at one end of said shaft, a stub shaft carried by saidauxiliary frame and secured to said toggle joint, a vertically movablebearing for the opposite end of said driving shaft, guides for saidbearing, trunnions on said bearing adapted to extend through slots insaid guides, a frame for said guides, flanges on said guides adapted toengage said frame, a spring disposed between said bearing and upper endof said guides, means to retain said spring between said bearing andguides and additional means to move said guides laterally on said framewhereby the cutting capacity of said disk will be increased ordecreased, and means to rotatesaid driving shaft.

7. In a device of the class described the combination, with a main frameand carrying means therefor, of an axle at the forward end of said mainframe, a link pivotally secured at one end to said axle and at itsopposite end to said main frame, an arm fixedly secured to said link, aguiding lever pivotally secured to the outer end of said arm wherebysaid link may be moved to the right or left and the main frame guidedindependently of said axle, a lifting arm on said lever and meansdisposed between said lifting arm and auxiliary frame whereby when saidlever is depressed the forward end of said auxiliary frame will beelevated.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLARD M. ARNOLD.

Witnesses .I. M. AVERY, CLOYD H. READ.

